ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author attempts to predict what sorts of issues might preoccupy health psychologists in the near future. He targets gender, race, and social class as broad areas of study that he would certainly place high on the agenda. The author discusses a discrete sample of topics within health psychology’s broad remit, in the hope that such ‘tasters’ will encourage further inquiry. Health psychology is not only relatively new, but it is also a rapidly evolving and changing discipline. In fact, in some countries, such as the USA, the gender mortality gap is narrowing, especially for people 45 and older. Some behavioural risks, most noticeably those associated with unhealthy diets and smoking, are more prevalent in lower social class groups and undoubtedly this contributes to health and mortality differentials. In areas of mental health, too, there is substantial evidence that those lower down the socio-economic ladder suffer from more mental distress.
